07.22.2003 | 8:53 pm

My time here in Pennsylvania is rushing forward speedily. The weekend went by in a blur of travel, visiting and crying babies. McKay doesn�t care for grandma during church and it seems that he doesn�t like road trips of any duration longer than about an hour. Saturday, we traveled up into New York, to Scarsdale to be exact. Sister and her family are still trying to settle into a very large, 5,000 sq. foot, 100-year-old home. Their new home, for the next three years is owned by our church�LDS, or Mormon Church to most people. It is a beautiful old home that puts me in mind of �The Hobbit House� owned by la-the-sage. The interiors are all new and modern with the outside looking of stucco and pine framing with rounded windows and doors. The house has four stories with room enough for incoming and out going missionaries, family and friends and assorted grandchildren, cats and dogs. They have quite a formal living and dining room that can accommodate important guests from all over the world as well. My sister was looking a bit out of her �country-style� element, but I�m sure she will adjust. We were able to spend the afternoon and evening visiting and eating. It was really the most pleasant time.

Sunday I woke up tired and full of aches and allergies. We got everyone ready for church and took the 30-minute drive into Whitehall, where their ward (congregation) meets. Baby McKay was NOT AT ALL HAPPY through church. For some reason, Matt, my son-in-law was showing traits of his dear mother�the other grandma on Sunday. He just would not help with his son at all! I took care of the baby all through the worship service while Marie played the organ. The next set of meetings, Marie again needed to play the piano and that is when the trouble erupted. Baby would not take a bottle or a binkie. He cried and cried, and Matt just stood around out in the hall taking to friends and let me try to handle it. When I finally asked if he would help, he gave me the most exasperated look, like��Jeez old lady, why can�t you do it!� He begrudgingly took the baby, and then instantly handed him off to one of Marie�s friends. I hadn�t even reached the end of the hallway where I had put down the diaper bag when Matt came and found me and asked, �Where is all his stuff?� in a manner that you would talk to a lazy teen. I told him I was on my way to get it, and that I had been trying for two hours to keep the baby happy. I gave him the bag, and then exited the building in tears. I think I sat under a tree and cried for better than an hour. I felt bad because I couldn�t do anything with the baby, and I felt even worse about the way my SIL had treated me. I cried all the way home too. I was trying really hard to control my emotions, but the floodgates were already open�too late. Marie tried to pry the problem out of me, but I honestly felt that I was being a little oversensitive, and I also didn�t want to lay another burden on her. So, I said nothing, and I�m glad. I think it would have been BAD to come between my daughter and her husband. My own mother used to do that in the early days of my marriage, and it drove me crazy! By the end of Sunday, things had calmed down and I was feeling much better. Marie tried to weasel out the real reason for my upset, so I finally told her I was just feeling like a failure as a granny and that I was frustrated. End of Sunday.

Monday beamed HUMID here in eastern Pennsylvania. In Arizona I am always having to slather on body oil, lotions, Burt�s Bees, and all manner of moisturizers just to survive without drying up and blowing away. Ha, ha�different story in PA. My hair-do is always FLAT and my skin seems almost as oily as that of a teenager. YIKES! The storm that blew in Monday evening after Melanie and Meredith took their swimming lessons at the �Y� was a doozie! The lightening was so close that the thunder clapped and shook the house almost immediately after it flashed. All the computers had to be turned off, thus, no entry on Monday.

Today, Tuesday, it was rainy and cloudy all day. We had to cancel our play date at the park with all the friends and the swimming lessons too. Instead, we made �Princess Pillows.� Actually the pillows are just printed panels from Wal-Mart with Snow White Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella on the front and back. Luckily, Granny B�s Bernina was working and I was able to do the machine stitching before we let the girls stuff them. They are SO thrilled with their new Princess Pillows. Marie was able to clean out her office and we made Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner. We also bought a new high chair for McKay and he had so much fun eating his first meal in it today. I rocked the baby to sleep later this evening. SO, all in all, it was a very good day. It is raining �cats n� dogs� right now, but things are dandy. Hubby comes in on Thursday.

catsnapples~ in Pennsylvania

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